Teaching Magic

I’m sitting at a Starbucks. Right in front of me is a student and teacher. It’s private tutoring or something. It’s pretty clear though that one is teach and one is learning. It’s such a great sight to behold. You can see it in the body language – in the way that they are engaged in the conversation. It’s in the anticipation of the student and the excitement of the explanation of the teacher. They’re both shaking their heads in agreement. You can physically see the transmission of knowledge and the intense soaking in of every word. It’s magic. It’s the coolest thing. I’m not sure you can truly know what I’m talking about unless you’ve taught yourself. It’s much harder for me to see it in myself, but watching it is pretty cool. Have you ever experienced teaching magic – either as a teacher or as a student? Tell me the story.

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There are those moments that I know I’ve gotten through– one of my students submitted something they’d written in my class and it was received for publication; a few have said they decided to become English teachers after taking my class; and then there are the days I laugh with my students, and maybe there isn’t a ton of heavy duty learning going on those days, but we’re connecting and establishing an environment that’s conducive to learning.

I love teaching. I hate the grading, but I am so hooked on talking about something I love and sharing that love with others in the hopes that it might help them succeed in other classes or their chosen career.

It kinda makes all of the other not so great moments worth it doesn’t it? At least for me it does. You know what though – when you talk about the days that you laugh – there’s alot of modeling going on there. You’re still teaching. Maybe not about split infinitives, but definitely still teaching. It’s magic – or something like that.

Ah Lem…That moment where the student feels successful after struggling or where they find something of interest and want more is the reason I kept doing this. The waste of time on standardized testing and the anxiety over grades that people dwell on is a shame. Learning sometimes takes longer than a chapter test allows. You call it teaching magic, but I call it joy. I don’t need a raise…just let me have enough time to continuing help students be successful in their eyes and develop a thirst for learning in others.